I’d imagine that one of the big questions that most prospective cadets and parents have, such as this parent, is what life in the dorms is like. In general, it’s similar to that of most other colleges: there are two people to a room, we share the heads, and we’re always in each other’s business. …

Hehe, you see what I did there? It’s a play on words Anyway, a parent posted a comment on a previous blog entry suggesting that I discuss some of the more “mundane” details of life at MMA, such as the mess deck. The mess deck is the hub of cadet life beyond the regiment. Eating, …

I’m sorry it’s been a week since my last post. I haven’t written anything due to a combination of being wicked busy, and not having much to write about (those two don’t really seem to go together, do they?). At any rate, I thought I’d post an update on some of the more interesting things …

So since I haven’t made a new post since the end of October, I thought it would be appropriate to post a few updates.  I’ve been able to hit some repeaters nearby, including the FARA 2 meter and the SCMARG 2 meter in Fairhaven. I’ve bought two new antennae.  One is a mag mount from …

Given that it’s Saturday, I decided to talk about weekends at MMA. Since the vast majority of cadets at MMA are Massachusetts residents (many of them living within an hour of campus), most people go home on weekends. It’s a nice break from the regiment. For those of us out of state, we have to …

All cadets are required to stand watch, license and non-license majors alike. We stand watch in three places on campus – one in the dorms, and two on the Enterprise. In the dorms, we have watch at the Cadet Information Center (CIC), where we keep track of visitors entering and exiting the dorms, answer the …

Inspections are a major part of the life of a fourth class cadet. Every morning at 0650, all fourth class cadets in the regiment stand room inspections, done by the squad leaders in each company. There are very specific requirements for your room to be inspection-ready, the state in which it is supposed to be …

Orientation is probably the single biggest source of nervousness and apprehension for incoming freshman at Mass Maritime. Last summer when I was talking to some of my soon-to-be shipmates, the vast majority of conversations revolved around Orientation and what people expected it to be like. Many of the rumors my classmates discussed turned out to …

I received an e-mail from the parent of a student who will be a freshman at MMA in the fall. She suggested that I write about important aspects of starting out as a freshman at MMA. Over the next week or two, I plan to cover a variety of topics pertaining to Orientation and first …

Today and tomorrow have been a little hectic as people are easing back in to their routines, and getting various issues sorted out. Schedules, financial aid, business office obligations, books, and a variety of other tasks we have to accomplish. As freshmen, this is the first time we’ve had to deal with a lot of …